Monday, May 12, 2014

Our Mia turned SIX years old and we've spent the entire week showering her with special privileges and birthday serenades and the first choice of pretty much everything, trust me the queen has lived large. This birthday was especially awesome because our girl has had herself an awesome year. She's doing so well in school (just started The Magic Treehouse chapter books and is SO proud of herself) and at home she's become the most responsible and willing little helper a mother of 4 could ever ask for.

I tell you this daily and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, you will change the world Mia. I just know it.
Her birthday morning:

Our birthday pancake tradition

Here she is blowing out her first birthday cake. Lolo and Lola arrived from California just in time to sing happy birthday to Mia. And folks we have another American Girl in the house--her name is Isabelle, she's the Girl of the Year. I'll save it for another post, but I will say this I think Bella and myself are totally jealous of the awesomeness that is Isabelle.

But on to the SPY PARTY!

Our kids have been OBSESSED with the Spy Kids movies over the past month and Mia was so excited when she came up with the theme for her party.

The family was told to dress in black and I about peed my pants when my parents arrived dressed like this:

I'm not quite sure exactly why my mom insisted on wearing a garbage bag cape but I think it has something to do with Robinson Karuso. Anyway, the mint juleps seem to be working :)

2014 National Spy Academy Recruits

You guys, Bella and Mia kept fighting over whose doll got to be in front. Ridiculous!

As President of The National Spy Academy, I had all the agents meet on the patio for some background checks

and some activities to test our logic, recollection, accuracy and speed.

they had a minute to examine tray before it was taken away and they had to recall as many items as they could.

Indy was SUCH a mama's boy the WHOLE party. It was awful.

A fun filled game of Pass the Dynamite

Agent 588-- codename Fancy Starlight

A "top secret" envelope was delivered to the front door that told the kids to turn on the tv for breaking news. We all watched a 30 second movie that I put together at the VERY LAST MINUTE (which is why I look like a hot mess) that informed the agents of a serious situation where the evil Dr. Chaos had stolen Mia's birthday cake and had planted a bomb to blow it all up. The kids loved the shit out of it!! Video is shown at the bottom of the post.

This started the actual "mission"

that included secret clues,

decoding ciphers,

and a laser avoidance mission.

After the kids got their clues at the end of the hallway they headed to the

living room for bomb detonation. 50 black balloons needed to be popped to find the three clues hidden inside.

the clues were made using invisible ink so they had to resort to their special

blacklight markers in their toolbox.

Clues led the kids to the refrigerator where they disarmed the bomb by cutting the purple wire to save the cake and foil Dr. Chaos!

The mission may have been over, but the fun was just starting. Our menu included an "ingredient decoder" salad

"Avoid the laser" pasta dish. Gnocchi on the left, rigatoni on the right.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Today our family joined over 50 other people donned with red shirts and a big yellow B for our sweetest little friend Brinley Olsen, as we walked in her honor for the Easter Seals Superhero Hustle.

From the start line to the finish line, we were all (super) heroes today.

The amount of love and compassion that lives in this organization is evident from the moment you walk through their doors. Which, btw, has a huge picture of Brinley on display in the lobby. Shameless plug :)

This girl, this family---is loved like no other. Everywhere I turned I'd see another team member--over 50 plus team members made up The Brincredibles! We were everywhere. And we brought love, laughter and hope for the future along with us today.

Thanks for ALL the flowers, buddy.

And then at the end of the 2 mile mark, Tiffany and Chad proudly walked their sweet little miracle accross the finish line. My heart burst into tiny little pieces all over that pavement. All the uncertainty, all the hard work, all the prayers paid off as she SMILED her way over the line.

Our sweet Brinley will be undergoing surgery in about 24 hours....and all my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family as they pull through this hard week ahead.

Thank you Tiffany and Chad for being such wonderful friends and an inspiration to so many!

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About Me

Gina is a wife, mother and avid Neil Diamond lover. She is proud to be a SAHM for Narciso Inc. Responsibilities include but are not limited to, follow established schedule, ensure all upper level management are fed, dressed and bathed in a timely and efficient manner, facilitate daily dance parties and quarterly tea parties with real water, possess ability to calm mild to severe tantrums and have a love for the job.
Which she does.